Southern has perfect night

SIDELINES

Glen Burnie gets bad news

High Schools

First, pack the house and hold a festive homecoming ceremony at halftime citing outstanding students. Then, watch the football team earn an overtime victory over a ranked team.

Southern did all of that Friday night, capping the evening with a 36-34 triumph over No. 11 Arundel (4-2).

A.J. Lee, all 5 feet 6 and 145 pounds of him, stole the spotlight by running for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including the winner and the subsequent two-point conversion run.

In overtime, Lee and the Bulldogs put the pressure on the Wildcats, who had rallied behind quarterback Bobby Schram to force the extra session.

In each overtime period, each team gets one turn at scoring from the 10-yard line on four downs.

Southern got the ball first and Lee scored on second down from the 8. Coach Russ Meyers decided to go for two points, and Lee responded, running the same play that produced both of his touchdowns, the other one coming on an 86-yard burst in the third quarter.

"A.J. is not the biggest guy in the world, but he's got some foot speed and really runs the ball hard up inside," Meyers said. "When he puts his mind to it, he is a tough dude to bring down."

Schram, who was 25-for-47 for 345 yards and three touchdown passes, connected with Danny Marin on a 10-yard pass on second down on Arundel's turn in overtime. But Schram's potential tying conversion pass was incomplete.

By going for the two, Meyers put extra pressure on Arundel and made the its near-automatic kicker, Bryan Jones, a nonfactor.

Led by senior linebacker Tony Belcher, who had 17 tackles, Southern's defense harassed Schram and the no-huddle Wildcats all night. The Bulldogs were constantly guessing on Arundel's snap count, keeping the heat on Schram.

"That was part of our game plan," Meyers said.

"We didn't think we were going to shut them out or do anything like that. We just tried to disrupt what they were doing and take them off their timing and things like that. All and all, we did a pretty good job."

Southern is now 6-0, but would be 5-1 had it not been for Glen Burnie having to forfeit its 22-20 win over the Bulldogs.

Gophers take a hit

A Glen Burnie player who is no longer on the team cut classes on two game days, resulting in forfeits to Meade and Southern. Coach Brad Wilson is appealing the county decision, and he said he really feels for his 38 players, 30 of whom are seniors.

"I had no way of knowing the student was cutting classes after he showed up for his first-period class and was not on the absentee list," Wilson said.

"I did not play an ineligible player and put the kid in question off the team when I found out. Then, the county says we have to forfeit two games. My other kids followed the rules and get two forfeits. It's not right. It's unfair.

"What if a kid cuts the final period on a Friday and plays that night. How are we to know?"

Despite the setback, the Gophers defeated struggling Annapolis, 16-14, on a pair of touchdowns by running back Jake Jones. In posting their first win over the Panthers (2-4) since 1995, the Gophers dropped to 2-4 with the two forfeits.

More football

Top-ranked Old Mill (6-0) pulled out a 21-14 victory over Chesapeake (3-3) on John Brown's second touchdown pass, to Darnell Dixon, (38 and 33 yards) with nine seconds remaining. ... No. 4 Broadneck (6-0) posted what is believed to be a county-record fourth shutout of the season and third in a row, 28-0 over Northeast (0-6). The Bruins held the Eagles to 77 yards of offense. ... Severna Park (4-2) changed quarterbacks and Greg Zingler completed 16 of 35 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-0 victory over Meade (1-5).

Field hockey

Barring a last-minute adjustment, it's going to be No. 1 Severna Park (11-1 overall, 9-1 league) and unranked South River (11-0, 10-0) in the county championship game at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Northeast.

South River surprised Severna Park, 3-2, on Tuesday for the second time in four years, breaking the Falcons' 47-game winning streak.

No. 13 Broadneck (9-1, 9-1) can gain the championship game by beating visiting South River on Tuesday --and hoping Severna Park, which handed Broadneck its only loss, loses to Arundel (5-4-1) on the same day. Under the county tiebreaking system, Severna Park advances outright if it wins.

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